Service Fabric Future support for 2019-Datacenter-With-Containers OS image

Muriuki, Levi M 246 Reputation points
2022-07-15T22:40:46.893+00:00

We received the health advisory below:

We are running containers in Service Fabric using 2019-Datacenter-with-containers which comes with Mirantis container runtime as per the documentation.

  • What should we do in order to continue running containers after September 2022/March 2023?
  • Is there already any news on when there will be a marketplace image available with support for containers?
  • What is the next in line OS image which supports SF with container support?

Here's the health advisory:
Previously we announced that the support story for the Mirantis Container Runtime (formerly Docker EE) on Windows will be transitioning to Mirantis Inc. in September 2022. We would like to supplement this announcement with a reminder that in accordance with the transition, both the DockerMsftProvider API and the "Windows Server with containers" images published by Microsoft on the Azure Gallery will be deprecated. This is largely because Microsoft won't have the distribution rights for the Mirantis Container Runtime come September.

Note: If you're using Windows containers on AKS or AKS on prem (Azure Stack HCI or Windows Server), this announcement doesn't apply to you; Microsoft provides a fully supported container runtime at no additional cost for these environments.

We're reaching out to you because we have records of you using one of the following Azure gallery images:

2016-Datacenter-with-Containers
2016-datacenter-with-containers-g2
2016-Datacenter-with-Containers-GS
2019-Datacenter-Core-with-Containers
2019-datacenter-core-with-containers-g2
2019-Datacenter-Core-with-Containers-smalldisk
2019-datacenter-core-with-containers-smalldisk-g2
2019-Datacenter-with-Containers
2019-datacenter-with-containers-g2
2019-Datacenter-with-Containers-GS
2019-Datacenter-with-Containers-smalldisk
2019-datacenter-with-containers-smalldisk-g2
Required action
At the end of September 2022, Microsoft will stop publishing new versions of these images to the gallery. At the end of March 2023 these images will be removed from the Azure gallery; Microsoft won't offer a replacement image in the gallery that bundles a container toolchain. Going forward, you'll have the following options:

Make the transition to AKS/AKS-HCI where full support and automatic management of the container runtime is provided at no additional cost.
Use a Windows Server Azure Marketplace Image produced by Mirantis. This will start as a pilot program based on customer interest, for which Mirantis will make available a version of the Windows Server VM image with the Mirantis Container Runtime preinstalled alongside any tooling they deem relevant. For information on this program please contact us.
Use the Azure Image Builder service to build your own image based on the desired version of Windows Server and bundle a container runtime of your choice.
Use VM Scale Set Custom Script Extensions to do a post-deployment configuration of your VM to install your desired container toolchain.

Any info is much appreciated.

Azure Service Fabric
Azure Service Fabric
An Azure service that is used to develop microservices and orchestrate containers on Windows and Linux.
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  1. Muriuki, Levi M 246 Reputation points
    2022-09-09T01:23:46.693+00:00

    For anyone wanting to go the Mirantis route, SF just released documentation on how to go about this after September 2022. See below.

    https://github.com/Azure/Service-Fabric-Troubleshooting-Guides/blob/master/Deployment/Mirantis-Guidance.md

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  2. Bart Michel 1 Reputation point
    2022-07-18T06:28:32.027+00:00

    What should we do in order to continue running containers after September 2022/March 2023?
    You can make your own custom OS image with a Server 2019 image from MS and add the mirantis runtime and store it in a Azure compute gallery (Mirantis is the only supported runtime by SF), but be aware prices are very expensive, i believe 2250 euro per node ( you can get an estimate from Mirantis)

    Is there already any news on when there will be a marketplace image available with support for containers?
    There is still nothing about this option, i don't think this will come in the near future

    What is the next in line OS image which supports SF with container support?
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-fabric/service-fabric-versions#supported-windows-versions-and-support-end-date

    For now i believe the only option is to make your own custom OS Image, but you also can look at appservice which also has container support for both linux as windows, you also can run full framwork apps without containers. We also use SF with container support, but because the price for Mirantis is very high, we now are going to move our container apps to Appservices..

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  3. vipullag-MSFT 23,946 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2022-07-19T06:37:07.54+00:00

    anonymous user

    Apologies in delayed response on this. I have checked on this with internal team.

    Adding to what @Bart Michel has shared in the previous response,

    It is expected that there will be extending the support for OS images with Container including Windows patching after September. However, internal team is working towards minimizing any disruptions in their workloads/operations.

    Hope this helps.
    If you need further information on this, tag me in a comment.
    If the suggested response helped you resolve your issue, please 'Accept as answer', so that it can help others in the community looking for help on similar topics.